The invention relates generally to an air ride seat pedestal for heavy trucks, busses, RVs, and the like that includes a height adjustment that is independent of the air cushioning assembly upon which the seat is supported.
Seats for heavy vehicles, including seats that are supported by an air ride assembly, are available in the marketplace. Such air ride assemblies may typically include an air bag or balloon in combination with a piston/cylinder unit connected between the base and the top of the pedestal upon which the seat is mounted. The air bag typically provides cushioning to the seat pedestal and its occupant, while the cylinder unit is geared more toward dampening rebound forces delivered from the ground surface upward through the vehicle's frame during travel. To adjust the height of the seat requires the inflation or deflation of the air bag.
The present systems using an air bag provides inadequate adjustments to accommodate various users of the seat pedestal. To raise the height of a traditional air bag pedestal higher pressure is pumped into the air bag to raise the height. The maximum height that the pedestal may raise to is limited to one maximum position that corresponds to the maximum height the frame around the air bag will rise, or the maximum height is limited by the maximum extension of the air bag. Therefore, maximum height may mean a stiffer ride due to higher pressure in the air bag. This may present a problem for a relatively short individual because he would have to tolerate a softer ride due to the low pressure necessary to lower the seat. Within a traditional seat there is not a way to limit the height of the air bag to a lower height than its maximum height, yet have the air pressure in the air bag corresponding to the maximum height. Thus, in a traditional seat pedestal with an air bag where it is necessary to adjust pressure to lower the height of the pedestal, a short and heavy individual may potentially bottom out the seat pedestal. The ability to selectively lower the maximum height in the seat pedestal, independent of the pressure in the air bag, would provide more flexibility to accommodate various users of the seat pedestal than presently available.